2025 AGA Convention Book
Tentative Schedule
Below is a tentative schedule for the events happening during the 55th Annual American Gelbvieh Association National Convention.
Below is a tentative schedule for the events happening during the 55th Annual American Gelbvieh Association National Convention.
View the bios of the convention keynote, Cattlemen’s Profit Roundup and educational sessions speakers.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Dale Woerner
The Opening General Session of the 55th Annual American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) National Convention will kick-off at the Margaritaville Hotel Nashville, in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. with keynote speaker, Dr. Dale Woerner, Cargill Endowed Professor of Sustainable Meat Science at Texas Tech University. Woerner will be presenting his keynote titled, “Red Meat Yield – A New Era”. The keynote will discuss how advancements in technology and new research are leading the beef industry in a new direction for red meat yield, and how the industry needs to be prepared to adapt cattle genetics and management to meet new incentives.
Dr. Dale R. Woerner is the Cargill Endowed Professor of Sustainable Meat Science in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at Texas Tech University, He earned both his B.S. (2003) and M.S. (2005) degrees in Animal Science from Texas Tech University, followed by a Ph.D. in Animal Science with a focus on Meat Science from Colorado State University in 2009. Dr. Woerner served as a faculty member at Colorado State University for nine years before joining the faculty at Texas Tech University in 2018. Over his career, he has secured more than $15 million in industry-funded research and has published over 300 scholarly works, including peer-reviewed manuscripts and technical reports in the field of meat science. enjoyed a lot of success in the breed over the years, and I look forward to being a part of the breed’s success in the future.
CPR Speaker: Dr. Troy Rowan
DR. TROY ROWAN is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. Troy grew up on a purebred Charolais operation in Southwest Iowa and has remained engaged in the beef industry since. He joined Tennessee’s faculty in 2021, where his research program is interested in developing genetic approaches to improve the efficiency of forage-based beef cattle production. He is interested in deploying novel genomic technologies across the beef industry and working to develop innovative new phenotypes for genetic evaluations. Troy’s extension work supports the Tennessee Master Beef Producer Program and other national organizations, including the Beef Improvement Federation and the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.
CPR Speaker: Dr. Jordan Thomas
DR. JORDAN THOMAS is a professor in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. Dr. Thomas is a Missouri native and University of Missouri alumnus, having earned his Ph.D. in Animal Sciences in 2017. Dr. Thomas maintains an active applied research and teaching appointment focused on the management of forage-livestock systems. He coordinates the breeding program for research herds across the University of Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, and he served as the State Cow-Calf Extension Specialist and program advisor to the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program until 2023. The primary research focus of the Thomas lab is reproductive management, with expertise in areas such as heifer selection and development, synchronization of the estrous cycle, timed artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and sex-selection technologies. Additionally, Dr. Thomas is a collaborating faculty member in the National Center of Applied Reproduction and Genetics, contributing to the interdisciplinary research and outreach efforts in the sustainable management of beef cattle production systems.
CPR Speaker: Blake Hojer
BLAKE HOJER is the manager and co-owner of Hojer Ranch, LLC located in Lake Preston, South Dakota. Established in 1991, by Alan and Pam Hojer with the purchase of 10 Gelbvieh cows, Hojer Ranch has strategically expanded to a diverse seedstock and feedlot operation consisting of 400 registered Gelbvieh cows and 1,000 head of cattle on feed annually. Priding himself on being part of a true second-generation family business, Blake has had to use unique and calculated decision making while navigating the growth of a newly established operation. In addition to raising Gelbvieh seedstock, the sourcing, breeding and development of commercial Gelbvieh-influenced females has become a primary part of the business. With the development of the “You Pick Em, We Breed Em” program, Blake has managed the breeding and development of over 6,000 Gelbvieh females over the past decade. These females have been sourced to ranches across the United States. Blake is a 2008 graduate of the University of South Dakota with a bachelor’s degree in education. Blake and his wife, Jennifer, reside in De Smet, South Dakota, and have four children: Jace, Jaden, Kaylee, and Brynn.
CPR Speaker: Bill Tucker
BILL TUCKER is the owner and operator of Tucker Family Farms, a seventh-generation operation located in Amherst, Virginia. The original Polled Hereford herd added Angus cattle in the early 1970s and Gelbvieh in the early 1980s. They developed an additional line of Red Angus cattle in the early 1990s. Today, the rolling herd inventory is about 1,800 head with the complement of an additional 500 cows in a contract grower network. All males are finished and the carcass data, valuable for mating decisions, goes back forty years. Today the program, featured in Gelbvieh World in 1998, utilizes Gelbvieh, Angus, and Red Angus in their three primary composite lines. “Maternal Mamas”, “Power Blacks”, and “Target Reds” are each formulated for specific end product results and have been stabilized for thirty years. The “Professional Replacement Female Sale” is held in April and has topped the seven-state area sale average for the past twelve years. Bill Tucker was awarded the Commercial Producer of the Year Award by the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) in 2000. Largely as a result of that recognition, he is a frequent speaker on genetics and environment interactions, having spoken in 19 states. Currently, Bill serves nationally as a member of the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) Breed Improvement Committee and as a member of the BIF board of directors. A 1983 graduate of Virginia Tech, Bill and his wife Claudia, have three daughters and three grandchildren.
Session Speaker: Dr. Bob Weaber
DR. BOB WEABER currently serves as Professor and Head, Eastern Kansas Research and Extension Centers at Kansas State University. Weaber initially joined the faculty of the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry at K-State in August of 2011 as the Cow-Calf Extension Specialist. He served as the faculty coordinator of K-State’s Purebred Unit on the faculty management team for K-State’s Beef Cattle Institute. Dr. Weaber serves as the Executive Director of the Beef Improvement Federation. The focus of his extension and research programs has been to broaden the availability, use and understanding of genetic selection tools as well as performance data collection schemes implemented by cattle producers. He grew up on a cow-calf operation in southern Colorado and went on to earn a BS in animal science followed by a Master of Agriculture degree in the Beef Industry Leadership Program at Colorado State University. He completed his doctoral studies in the Animal Breeding and Genetics Group at Cornell University. Previously, Weaber was Director of Education and Research at the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA). Today, Weaber serves as the AGA genetics consultant.
Session Speaker: Megan Underwood
MEGAN UNDERWOOD currently serves as the AGA Communications Coordinator. In her role, Megan leads the communication efforts of the association, serves as the editor of Gelbvieh World and The Profit Picture, and assists the marketing team in the development and distribution of the national advertising campaign. She has a wealth of communication experience through many internships with industry-leading beef organizations and breed associations, as well as her previous positions with the AGA and American Hereford Association. In her previous tenure with the AGA, she led the Gelbvieh World editorial efforts to receive the Livestock Publications Council’s James Flanagan Award for the most improved publication. Megan resides in Campbellsville, Kentucky, on her family’s Polled Hereford seedstock and row crop operation. She received her bachelor’s degree in Animal Sciences and Industry with a minor in Mass Communications and Journalism and a Professional Strategic Selling certificate from Kansas State University. She also received her master’s degree in Agricultural Education and Communication from K-State.
Session Speaker: Andrew P. Griffith
ANDREW P. GRIFFITH is a Professor and Extension Livestock Economist with the University of Tennessee. He started serving Tennessee producers in May 2012 after completing his Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University. Prior to earning his terminal degree, he earned a B.S. degree in Agriculture from Tennessee Tech University and a M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics at the University of Tennessee. He is originally from Hampshire, Tennessee, where he and his family produce soybeans, corn, stocker cattle, and have a cow-calf operation. His program has focused on price risk management strategies for both the input and output markets of stocker and feeder cattle. In addition, his program has included livestock production economics and forage production economics.
View the bios of the seven candidates vying for a spot on the AGA Board of Directors.
Dalton Bennett, Red House, Virginia
I am very honored to be nominated as a candidate for the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) Board of Directors. Along with my dad, Jim, and his two brothers, Paul and Brian, we own and operate Knoll Crest Farm in Red House, Virginia. We have Gelbvieh, Balancer®, Angus, and Hereford cattle, and market about 450 bulls annually. I have been responsible for the breeding of our Gelbvieh and Balancer herds since 2014 and have truly found a passion for the breed. My wife Monica and I are blessed to live on the farm with our three daughters, Kennedy, Hadley, and Colyer.
I graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Crop and Soil Science in 2013 and came directly home to work on our farm. During that time, I have served on the Virginia Angus Association board of directors, our county Farm Bureau board, as well as President of our local cattlemen’s association. Currently, I sit on the leadership council for a regional university agricultural research station and serve as past chairman of the Virginia Beef Council. All these experiences have taught me valuable lessons not just about the industry but more importantly about the people involved in agriculture.
Gelbvieh cattle have been a major part of my family’s history and success. Early on, my grandfather saw the advantages of adding Gelbvieh to our then all Hereford seedstock operation, and we were one of the first breeders to bring a herd east of the Mississippi River in 1981. I believe that the stories of how they bought those cattle and got them back home over a span of a few years are some of the family’s favorites to tell. We have enjoyed a lot of success in the breed over the years, and I look forward to being a part of the breed’s success in the future.
I believe the Gelbvieh breed is well-positioned for a larger chunk of the market share in the near future. As I listen to bull customer needs, I hear a large demand for what Gelbvieh does well. As we continue to try to add carcass weight and keep mature cow weights in check, I think Gelbvieh may well be the breed best suited to walk that very difficult tightrope. I hope to have the opportunity to bring my somewhat unique viewpoint as a multi-breed, eastern breeder to a board of directors that I hear is already doing an amazing job.
JJ Boehler, Orleans, Nebraska
Thank you to the nominating committee for considering me as a candidate for the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) Board of Directors.
Cows — especially Gelbvieh — are my passion. I’ve been an AGA member since July 25, 1988, and am proud to have witnessed the association’s many achievements. I have enthusiastically promoted the breed to anyone interested in building a quality cowherd.
My son, Joe, and I operate roughly 100 mostly Balancer® cows and another 20 Angus cows, retaining 15-20 bulls each year to serve our long-time customers within a 25-mile radius. My daughter, Kerry, and son-in-law, Brandon Spence, have established their own registered Gelbvieh herd, and Kerry currently serves as president of the Gelbvieh Association in Nebraska.
I’ve had the pleasure of helping several families get started with Gelbvieh and working with many talented junior members.
I am honored to be considered for the board, and if elected, I will take the position very seriously and work to advance the breed and support our members.
Gary Carlisle, Redmond, Utah
It is a true honor to be nominated for a position on the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) Board of Directors.
As a fifth-generation rancher, my roots in agriculture run deep. In 1996, I started Carlisle Excavating as a way to help supplement my love of cattle during leaner times. Building and running a business from the ground up has taught me valuable lessons in hard work, resilience, and leadership — qualities I strive to carry into every aspect of ranching and community involvement.
My wife, Susan, and I have worked side by side for over 30 years, raising not only a family, but also a farm and ranch we are proud of. We’ve been blessed with a large and growing family, including 23 grandchildren, who are the joy of our lives.
My journey with Gelbvieh cattle began in 2004, when I traveled to Loveless Gelbvieh with the intention of purchasing two heifers. It didn’t take long to convince me this was a great breed. My trailer had room for ten, but somehow, we made it home with twelve. Since then, my passion for the breed has only grown. Today, our ranch, the YJ Mountain Ranch, runs 120 registered Gelbvieh, with a mix of purebred and Balancer® cattle, along with 100 commercial cows. I continue to be impressed by the maternal strength, efficiency, and overall performance of Gelbvieh cattle. The crossbreeding potential with Balancers has especially intrigued me—using Angus and Gelbvieh genetics combined to maximize heterosis.
I’ve been a committed participant in the Pot of Gold Bull Sale for over 15 years, where I’ve not only seen strong success but also formed lifelong friendships and industry connections. I have also been honored to showcase the genetics of Gelbvieh cattle in numerous venues, including the Utah State Fair since 2007, the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE), and the National Western Stock Show (NWSS). For the past five years, I’ve had the privilege of serving as President of the Utah/Idaho Gelbvieh Association, where I’ve worked to support breeders across our region and help promote the breed.
If elected to the Board, I would be honored to be an asset by bringing representation from the western region of cattlemen, helping to ensure that the voice and challenges of our area are part of the conversation moving forward. I would also like to help promote the Gelbvieh breed to commercial cattlemen and help them understand the profitability and long-term benefits Gelbvieh genetics bring to their herds.
Thank you for your consideration.
Christina Dockter, Medina, North Dakota
Thank you to the nominating committee for asking me to run for the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) Board of Directors. I am humbled and honored by their consideration.
My husband, Dwight, and I purchased our first Gelbvieh heifers in 1991 and have been committed to the Gelbvieh breed ever since. We own and operate Golden Buckle Gelbvieh of Medina, North Dakota. We run over 300 head of cows, with a majority of them being purebred Gelbvieh. Our family consists of four grown children and their families: Bailey, Cheyenne, Cierra, and Dalton, who all continue to be active in the agriculture and livestock industry.
While our children were growing up, we exhibited cattle at the National Western Stock Show in Denver and Agribition in Canada. After hosting a production sale for a number of years, we moved to marketing our bulls and females by private treaty.
Our family believes in the future of agriculture by not only living it but also investing in the future of youth through FFA, 4-H, and the American Junior Gelbvieh Association (AGJA). I was a 4-H leader for 23 years and the North Dakota Junior Gelbvieh Association leader for 18 years, along with serving on the North Dakota FFA Foundation board.
We have been members of the AGA since 1993. I have served on the Breeder’s Choice Gelbvieh Futurity board and been active in the North Dakota Gelbvieh Association, having served on the board along with being the sale committee chair and spearheading the marketing our association does utilizing the Gelbvieh Regional Advertising Program (GRAP).
A common-sense approach is used in our operation for breeding and culling decisions, resulting in a sound, productive herd. Chasing trends and extremes has never been a priority in our operation. Our cows don’t receive special treatment and are expected to be productive cows in our harsh North Dakota winter climate.
We are in an exciting time in the beef business, and I am committed to helping make the Gelbvieh breed a top contender as the breed of choice. The Gelbvieh breed has so much to offer, and we need to make sure we are at the forefront in all aspects of the beef industry.
Thank you for your consideration, and I would appreciate your vote.
David Larson, Clearbrook, Minnesota
It’s been a great privilege to serve on the AGA Board of Directors these last three years, and I feel very fortunate to be asked to run for a second term. In my time on the board, I’ve served as Vice President and as Breed Improvement Committee Chairman. To this point, my experience has had its ups and downs, but I feel that as a Board, we’ve accomplished some really good things. However, we still have much work ahead of us to get the Gelbvieh and Balancer® breed to where it needs to be, and I hope to provide as much as I can to get us there.
Some background about me, my wife, Calli, and I, in partnership with my brother Dan and his wife Nicole, own and operate Larsons Lost River Livestock in northwest Minnesota. My wife and I have four children – Sawyer (7) and Reese (5), and year-old twins Hatti and Hayes. We live at the main farm where I grew up, and my kids are the fifth generation to live in our old farmhouse that my great-grandfather built. My dad, Mark, and my other brother, Matt, are also involved with the farm, so we are very much a family operation with deep ties to the land and our local community.
My dad first started using Gelbvieh genetics via AI in 1985, and the calves produced on a mostly Hereford cow base were a revelation at the time; Gelbvieh cattle have remained the backbone of our herd ever since. I came back to the farm full time in 2014, after four years at NDSU majoring in Ag Economics and Animal Science and in the past decade, my family has made a significant push to expand our operation to support three families. We hold a production sale in late February where we market 70 yearling bulls and 50 bred females. We also market some of our top-end bred females through several consignment sales, and in any given yea,r we sell 150-200 feeder calves. In the next six months, we plan to break ground on a 500 head feedyard with plans to expand that as well. With both the seedstock and commercial sectors as part of our operation, we strive to produce sound, functional, attractive cattle that will succeed in both groups for us and our customers.
If re-elected to the AGA Board of Directors, I will strive to use my experiences to guide my thoughts and opinions but also try my best to represent the wishes of the rest of the membership. I’m always eager to hear from other breeders, and their thoughts and opinions matter greatly to me. I would sincerely appreciate your vote, and I look forward to seeing everyone in Nashville.
Brent Overmiller, Smith Center, Kansas
Hello, I am Brent Overmiller from Smith Center, Kansas. My family has been involved with the Gelbvieh breed since 1984. My wife, Brittany, and two sons, Hudson and Cooper, are in a joint operation with my parents as well as my brother, Kelly, and his family. We run over 600 cows, 250 registered with the AGA and have a farming operation as well. Our annual production sale in February features 18–22-month-old bulls as well as commercial replacement heifers. I am currently finishing out my third year on the AGA board, my second as the secretary.
There has not been a more exciting time in my life as a beef producer than what we are experiencing now. A forecasted extended peak in the cattle cycle, weekly record-breaking calf prices, and the unknown in the beef industry as they try to predict the future size of the beef cow herd in the United States make it exciting. Still, some fear comes with all the uncertainty. Let’s be honest, though, what rancher ever described their life as boring?
Serving as a board member of the AGA has also been an exciting time for me, personally. The first year was more about understanding the role of the AGA from the association side and realizing the role of the board. The second year brought a whirlwind in the search for a new executive director. Year three has really combined the excitement of the industry with the excitement of the AGA as we strategize to grow our footprint as a breed. We know we have the best female, and the current demand for larger carcasses plays into our strength as cattle that keep gaining weight without sacrificing yield.
I would be honored to serve a second term on the board of directors and work to continue, increase, and see the things we have started play out over the next three years. I have a desire to be aggressive and push the association to build demand for Gelbvieh and Balancer® cattle. We all know the advantage of the Gelbvieh breed; it’s time we strive to prove and promote how outstanding these cattle are.
Josh Phillips, Lathrop, Missouri
It truly is an honor to be asked to run for the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) Board of Directors. I own and operate JGP Gelbvieh along with my wife, Cassie, our two sons, Jace and Cooper, and my parents, Mike and Toni Shrewsbury. We are located in Lathrop, Missouri, which is about 40 miles north of Kansas City. Our operation consists of around 150 Gelbvieh, Balancer®, and commercial cows. We use an aggressive AI and ET program focused on producing high-quality, productive cattle that work in the real world.
We got started in the Gelbvieh breed around 1990 when my parents purchased two red Gelbvieh bulls from the Double F Ranch to service our primarily Angus-type commercial cowherd. From that very first calf crop, we saw added performance and pounds and knew we wanted more. My first show heifer came from one of those first matings, and that is how my Gelbvieh herd was started in 1992. That very first heifer raised the Reserve National Champion Female at the National Western Stock Show in 1996.
Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, I was an active member of the American Gelbvieh Junior Association (AGJA). Serving first as the Junior Ambassador and then on the AGJA Board of Directors for two terms. During my time on the board, I served as President, Vice President, and Ex-Officio. Within the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA), I have served on the National Sale Committee for the last four years. I am a member of the Heart of America Gelbvieh Association, where I am currently serving on the board of directors
I attended the University of Missouri from 2000 to 2004, majoring in Agricultural Education with minors in Ag Economics and Animal Science. Upon graduation, I moved to Georgia and managed TJB Gelbvieh for a few years. Working for The Bicketts allowed me to experience the Gelbvieh breed on a whole other level. I look back on my time at TJB fondly and appreciate all the opportunities, experiences, and friendships gained while I was there.
It’s an exciting time to be in the Beef Industry! Record-high prices are nice to see and hopefully will stay around for a while. If elected to the board, I will work to help add value to our cattle and promote our breed as the Continental Breed of Choice. I also am a big believer in our junior program, as those young people are the future of our breed.
In closing, I am passionate about promoting the Gelbvieh breed and our people. The Board of Directors has always been filled with breeders whom I have respected, and I do not take this nomination lightly. Thanks again for your consideration.